Surviving Sasuke
by ilovesoccer13
Summary: Part 3 of a Trilogy, read the 1st two before you read this one. With a baby on the way and Sasuke getting stronger, how will Naruto and Sakura stay safe from harm? Naru/Saku, minor Shika/Ino, Kiba/Hina, and Neji/Ten
1. The Baby

_Sakura rolled her eyes. "Come here," she grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of his seat, leading him over to the couch. They both sat down, and Sakura scooted closer to Naruto, wrapped both of her arms around his neck and leaning forward so that their noses were almost touching._

_"Oh..." Naruto said as Sakura looked at him expectantly. "I think I get it now."_

_Sakura laughed, leaning forward. Just before their lips touched, she whispered, "I'm pregnant."_

* * *

Without waiting for a reply, Sakura quickly leaned forward and covered Naruto's lips with hers, pressing her hands against his chest to steady herself as she subconsciously sank a little lower into the couch. She could feel his heart beating rapidly against her hand, but Naruto himself was completely frozen and unresponsive. His lips were still against hers, and Sakura was nearly brought to the brink of tears by his lack of action. He wasn't even kissing her back. _"This was an awful idea...I shouldn't have even said anything. I should've waited..." _Sakura felt like an idiot for even continuing to try and kiss Naruto when he wasn't even kissing her back, so she began to pull away.

And then suddenly, he was kissing her back so hard that she was getting light-headed, and his arms were wrapping around her in a tight hug that made it even harder for her to breathe. One of Naruto's hands went from her back to her stomach, where it rested softly as his tongue slipped inside her mouth. Sakura tumbled backwards from the sheer force of his kiss, and Naruto crouched above her, still kissing her enthusiastically. Just as Sakura was about to break away for air, Naruto pulled back, staring down at her, his eyes twinkling brightly.

"You're pregnant," he whispered, his breath tickling Sakura's face. It was half a question, half a statement.

"I'm pregnant," Sakura repeated, more confidently this time.

They laid there for another moment, staring at each other. "You're pregnant." Naruto stood up suddenly, looking down at her like a little kid who had just gotten exactly what he wanted for Christmas. "You're pregnant!" He reached for Sakura's hands, pulling her off of the couch and into a loving hug. "I'm going to be a f-" Naruto cut himself off mid-whisper, pulling away and staring into Sakura's eyes. She tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"What?" she asked him nervously, worried that he didn't want a baby after all.

"I..." Naruto stared into her eyes, gulping nervously. "...I am the father, right?"

They were both silent for a moment, Naruto tense and Sakura not really sure what to say. Finally, she laughed. "Of course you are!" She leaned forward and grabbed his face, giving him a quick kiss. Naruto returned it enthusiastically.

"I'm going to be a father..." he said, turning the idea over in his head. "We're going to have a kid..." His eyes narrowed suddenly. "Sakura...we have to tell Tsunade-baa-chan about this, so she can increase security outside the village. If Sasuke gets both you and the baby...I don't..."

"Relax, Naruto. Tsunade-sama is the one who told me I was pregnant in the first place. She ran some tests on me while I was asleep those few days," Sakura told him, taking both of his hands into hers. "She's already done everything she can to keep me safe."

Naruto stared down at their joined hands for a moment, before looking back at Sakura nervously. "What if...what if I can't...you'll be taking care of a baby inside of you, and you won't be able to fight him...what if he comes here and I can't protect you?"

"I'm not letting him anywhere me or our baby," Sakura said firmly. "And if he does come here, every ninja in this village will be after him. He'd never be dumb enough to show up in Konoha again."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "He'll always be there," he said suddenly. "Unless he dies, he'll always be there in the back of our minds. We'll always wonder where he is, or if he's planning something. You know I'm right."

Sakura frowned, but didn't reply. Naruto pulled away from her, clenching his fists. "I want to be able to be with my family and know that we're safe and nobody is coming to get us. I want to know that Sasuke is dead and when he dies and how and where, and I want to be the one to kill him. And I want to go after him after you have your baby and we get settled, alright?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at Sakura's outburst. "A simple 'ok' was what I was expec-"

"YOU want ME to have a BABY so that YOU can go off right afterwards and fight Sasuke to the DEATH!? You'll have a kid by then, Naruto! You can't just... just LEAVE us and go off on some journey that we both know is going to lead to either your death or a serious injury, because fighting Sasuke will NOT be easy! One of you will die, the other will probably come close to death, and where does that leave me? With a kid with no father? Leave it to the Hokage." She hissed the last sentence angrily, and Naruto's eyes only got wider.

"Look, I was just...I mean..."

"Don't try to be a hero, you idiot. You have responsibilities now."

"But..." Naruto sighed heavily as Sakura crossed her arms and turned away from him. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, reaching out and touching her face lightly. "I just want you to be safe. We can talk about this later, alright? I think...maybe you should move in with me?" he asked carefully. "Or...I should move in with you...or we should move somewhere together..." He sighed again when she still didn't reply. "You're supposed to be happy, Sakura-chan...we're going to be parents..." he reminded her.

Sakura met his pleading gaze, and after a moment, she gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I'm just..." She made a motion next to her head. "Hormone overload, I'm a little crazy right now. I think it's normal when you're pregnant. We can discuss all this Sasuke stuff later, alright?"

"Alright," Naruto agreed, taking her hand and leading her back over to the couch. "Right now we should talk about the..." His eyes flickered towards her stomach, and he swallowed heavily. "...our baby."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Yes. We're going to have a baby. We're going to be parents."

Naruto shivered anxiously. "Do you know much about it? What did Tsunade-baa-chan say?"

"She said...well, I saw her only a few days ago, back when I was about a week pregnant...now I'm about a week and a half. It's way too early to even think about finding out the gender, but I don't have a preference anyway. I don't really know a whole lot. She just told me that I was pregnant and that I needed to eat healthy foods and not exercise too much. Other than that I don't know much." She looked up at him nervously. "Do you care whether our baby is a boy or a girl?"

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. Images flashed through his mind, ranging from an older version of himself playing ninja with a small boy, to cuddling with a small pink-haired girl on a couch and watching TV. He grinned. "Not really. Just as long as the baby comes out, I'm good." His grin faded suddenly. "Wait...how are we going to tell everyone else?"

Sakura blushed. "Umm...they know."

"What?"

"I...uh...told them. Most of them. Well...actually, none of them. They either overheard me saying it, were told by someone else, or just figured it out. I didn't actually really tell anyone."

"...I...don't really know what to say," Naruto said after a moment, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "Why did you wait to tell me?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't be happy," Sakura muttered.

"I wouldn't be happy?" Naruto repeated dumbly. "Of course I'm happy! Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"I don't know...it sounded reasonable in my head. We're just...young, you know? It's a lot of responsibility. We're completely in charge of someone else's life." Sakura stared down at her stomach. "Right now, if we wanted to, we could end this baby's life right now, and it wouldn't have any say in the matter. We have that power."

Naruto grimaced. "I don't like the sound of that." He tilted his head to the side. "You wouldn't do that, though. You'd have to stab yourself in the stomach or something, right?"

"I could get an abortion," Sakura explained slowly. "If...if you think that would be better."

"An abortion...?" Naruto took a deep breath, glancing at Sakura's stomach again. "I don't want you to have an abortion. And I know you don't want one either. We're keeping the baby."

"A-alright...it's settled then." They both exhaled heavily at the same time. "Nine months from now, we're going to have a baby."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled nervously. "I have no idea how to be a father."

"You'll make a great father," Sakura replied instantly. "Don't worry about it. There are classes, books...all kinds of ways we can prepare."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Yeah. I forgot about those." He smiled. "I'm glad I have such a smart wi...girlfriend." His smile was replaced with a frown. "That was odd..." His frown deepened, and he looked at Sakura seriously. "Sakura..."

Sakura looked at him curiously. "What?"

"Sakura, we need to get married."


	2. The Ninja

Sakura blinked at Naruto as he continued to stare at her seriously. "Are you......proposing?"

Naruto's serious look disappeared, and his face fell. "Uh...I..." _"Don't have a ring!" _"I...no, I guess not. It's just a suggestion. Since we're having a baby...I just thought it would be better to get married first..." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh..." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, trying to keep her face expressionless. _"Ouch...that stung a little..." _"Well, most couples that get married because of a pregnancy don't usually work out, so...I don't think we should get married for that reason."

Naruto scratched his head. "Yeah...uh...right. People should get married 'cause they love each other..."

"Mmmhmm..."

"We love each other, right?"

"Of course we do."

"So...I mean, if YOU want to get married, then I guess we could. I don't really...care...either...way...hehe..." Naruto closed his mouth quickly as he watched Sakura's eyes narrow more with every word he said.

"Yeah, right. I know for a fact you care."

"How do you know that?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the night before, and what Naruto had said while he was drunk. "How's that hangover feeling?" she asked abruptly.

"Fine...I think the Kyuubi powers are really starting to kick in, I'm almost back to nor...hey, nuh-uh, no changing the subject!" Naruto crossed his arms. "I want to talk about this."

"Well, I don't. You shouldn't have even brought it up if you weren't serious. Getting married is the last thing we should do right now, whether we want to or not. I'm already pregnant, Sasuke's still out there, and you and Shikamaru just got completely wasted for absolutely no reason last night, even though you're both not old enough to legally drink yet. That's enough drama for me right now."

"But Hinata and Kiba..."

"I KNOW Hinata and Kiba just got married, but that was their choice, and you know I didn't agree with it. We're not Hinata and Kiba. Hinata wasn't just kidnapped by her old teammate and held captive for three months, alright?"

Naruto sighed, scratching his head. "Alright, alright, relax. We can wait, if that's really what you want to do."

"It is," Sakura replied firmly.

"Alright..." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, thinking silently for a moment. "Well...it's about time for lunch. I think I'll go pick something up. What do you want?"

"Anything's fine, I guess..." Sakura trailed off awkwardly, and Naruto raised an eyebrow at her.

"C'mon Sakura, I'm over the whole 'you being all crazy' thing now that I know WHY you're that way. Go ahead and tell me what you want," Naruto replied.

"Alright..." Sakura looked up at him nervously. "Well, the other day I had these things called Apple Cinnamon Rice Snacks..."

* * *

"What are these?" Tsunade asked grumpily, watching Shizune set a huge stack of papers down on her desk. "I already have to renew that peace treaty with Suna today...and why isn't Tonton back yet? I sent that pig off to go find Shikamaru hours ago!" She put a hand on her head and sighed. "Being Hokage involves so much stress..."

"I would've thought you'd be used to it by now," Shizune replied. She paused for a second, then gestured towards the stack of papers. "The Akatsuki attacked a village at the edge of the Fire Country a couple of days ago. This is the complete list of everything that was destroyed or stolen. It's our duty to replace it."

"Are you kidding me?" Tsunade groaned, sliding the stack of papers across her desk towards her and flipping through them quickly. "Which way were they headed?"

"The report said towards Suna."

"Ugh, thank God," Tsunade huffed, leaning forward and pressing her cheek against the top of the desk. "Gaara can handle them."

The office door flew open, and Tonton came running in, Shikamaru trailing behind. "You rang?" he asked dully.

"Where the hell were you, I asked for you hours ago!?" Tsunade exclaimed.

"I was..." Shikamaru coughed, rubbing his temples and groaning as his head throbbed painfully. "...busy."

Tsunade eyed him carefully. "Are you...drunk?"

"No."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "I think you are."

"I'm not. I just have a hangover," Shikamaru replied defensively.

"Oh, for crying out loud...never mind, just go home. Tonton, go find Ino instead."

Shikamaru sighed in relief, and Tonton squealed, racing out of the room.

"What did you need Shikamaru for?" Shizune asked curiously.

"Apparently there's been some kind of problem just outside the village gates. Nothing too bad, according to my reports. Just some wandering rogue ninja that decided to try and fight our village guards. I'm sure you can guess the outcome. I need someone to come and bring the body in, and search it for clues. There might be something on the ninja to let us know why he was here...if there was a specific reason. I was hoping Shikamaru could do the examining, his IQ being so high and all that..."

Shizune raised an eyebrow. "So in his place, you're sending...Ino?"

"Eh...Sakura's in no position to do it right now, and Ino has some medical experience...so why not?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed suddenly, and she reached for a nearby bottle of sake. "Are you questioning my authority?"

"N-no, Tsunade-sama," Shizune stuttered. "Not at all! I was just curious."

"Alrighty then..." Tsunade took a sip from the bottle, then set it back down absentmindedly. "I guess I better get started on those papers. Let me know when Ino gets here." She frowned, pausing for a moment. "Actually...just brief her yourself. Don't disturb me again, I'm under a lot of stress right now."

"Y-yes ma'am."

* * *

"This is the room."

Ino nodded her understanding, watching Shizune reach for the doorknob. The door swung open to reveal a large table. Lying across the table was the dead ninja.

"The reports we were given all say that this was most likely a rogue ninja looking for trouble. All we've done is moved the body, other than that, we haven't touched him. Let us know if you find anything interesting, okay?"

"Okay." Ino entered the room as Shizune turned to leave, placing her hands on the table next to the ninja and staring at the mask he was wearing. "Wait a second..."

Ino heard footsteps from down the hall, and Shizune peeked back into the room, frowning. "What?"

"This isn't a rogue ninja..." Ino said slowly. "This ninja is wearing the exact same uniform as the ones we saw at the Land of Waves. He works for Sasuke."


	3. Author's Note

**A/N: I'd just like to say I'm sorry that I haven't been updating recently, although I do plan on continuing this story. I've just been busy lately. I was going to hopefully get a chapter done this weekend, but I'm afraid I've had a change of plans because I lost my motivation and am too depressed right now to write Naru/Saku. If you haven't heard the news, are a Naru/Saku fan, and feel like being depressed, check out the new manga chapter, chapter 437. It is titled "Confession". Need I say more? :(**

**Hopefully I'll pick back up on this in a while, but for now it might be another few weeks before I update. **


	4. Secret Message

**Phew, I finally got this up. Sorry for the long wait, hopefully I will be able to write more soon. **

* * *

Shizune's eyes narrowed. "Alright, search him anyway. I'll go get Tsunade-sama."

As Shizune left the room, Ino turned back to face the dead ninja. She wrinkled her nose, moving her hand toward the ninja's mask daintily. "Damn Shikamaru," she whispered, pulling the mask off and starting for the ninja's shirt. "If he hadn't gotten drunk last night, I wouldn't be doing this."

"If _who_ hadn't gotten drunk last night?" a teasing voice came from the doorway.

Ino looked up with a frown. "_You _are supposed to be back in bed, Shikamaru Nara. Go home."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, leaning against the door frame and watching her finish pulling off the ninja's shirt. "Want me to help?"

Ino glanced up at him again, arching an eyebrow, then looked back at the dead body, which was beginning to stink, and did what any normal girl would do. "Be my guest."

"All right." Shikamaru took Ino's spot in front of the body, starting on the ninja's pants and pulling off the weapons pouch.

"Are you okay to do this? You've still got a hangover, don't you?"

"I'll be fine, it's getting better by the second," Shikamaru replied easily. Once the ninja's pants were off, both Shikamaru and Ino stared at his boxers.

"Er...do we have to take those off?" Ino asked.

"Um...we'll save those for later. It doesn't look like there's anything on his body, though."

"Check the weapons pouch," Ino suggested. Shikamaru opened the pouch and dumped all of the contents onto the floor.

"Nothing unusual here," he said, staring down at the pile of kunai and shuriken.

"Do his pants have pockets?"

"Nope, already checked."

"So when Shizune and Tsunade come in here, we're going to have to tell them that this ninja has absolutely no evidence on him?"

"Maybe not..." Shikamaru reached for the ninja's face, and Ino winced as Shikamaru pried his mouth open. "Nothing in here."

They both looked down towards the ninja's boxers again, and gulped. "Okay. We just have to be professional about this. It's just a dead body. Nothing special about it."

"You're the guy, you do it," Ino retorted. "I'll...check the weapons again or something." She sat down on the floor with her arms crossed, and glared at Shikamaru until he finally gave in.

"Fine. But you owe me."

Ino smiled to herself, reaching for a kunai and glancing at it for a second, before tossing it to the side. She heard Shikamaru gag from somewhere above her as she grabbed a second kunai, almost tossing it aside, but stopping herself at the last second. "Hey, look at this."

There was a small snap as Shikamaru released the ninja's boxers and crouched down beside her, reaching for the kunai. "What the hell, don't touch me!" Ino exclaimed, scooting away from him.

"Just show me the kunai," Shikamaru deadpanned.

"Fine. Look." Ino pointed to the handle of the kunai, where several, indentical, small dents ran down the side, all the way to the very bottom. "What do you think these are? They aren't on the other kunai."

"Let me see it," Shikamaru said, glaring at Ino when she shook her head. "Come on, quit being so immature."

Ino sighed, tossing him the kunai and grinning when he dropped it. "Still a bit dizy?"

"Shut up." Shikamaru stared at kunai for a moment, running his finger over the ridges and frowning. "Hand me a shuriken."

"Why?" Ino asked, but complied anyway.

"We learned in the Ninja Academy the exact distance between the points of a shuriken, to help us know where it would hit a target and how many of the points would actually make contact with something when it hits. Do you remember that?"

"No, I hardly paid attention in school, you know that," Ino replied, rolling her eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, these dents in the kunai match that distance. Which means, either this kunai got hit by a shuriken in a manner that caused the shuriken to roll down the side, leaving these dents, or... I should do _this_." Shikamaru took the shuriken in his hand and stuck one point of it into the first dent. A small click was heard.

"Hey, do that again," Ino commanded.

Shikamaru glared at her. "I was getting to that." He rolled the shuriken down a second time, and the next point came in contact with the dent. A second click was heard. He rolled it down a third time, and then a fourth, all the way down the kunai until every dent had been filled at least once. With a soft hiss, the kunai split in half, revealing a small paper inside of it. Before Shikamaru could even reach for it, Ino snatched it up, unfolding the paper excitedly. Her face fell.

"It's in code."

"Give it here," Shikamaru told her, snatching the paper out of her hands. "I'm good with codes." He stared down at the paper, which had ten symbols written across it. There was a small gap between the fourth and fifth symbol. "I'm guessing these are words," Shikamaru started. "And there are two of them: one has four letters, and the next has six. So what we've got to do is figure out what symbol stands for what letter."

"Is there some kind of key we can go by, to tell us what means what?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru turned the paper over. There was nothing on the other side. "I guess not. It would be too easy anyway. We can still figure this out though, by pure logic. See, for example, look at this." He moved the paper so Ino could see it, and pointed to the last two letters of the first word. "This is the same symbol. That means that the last two letters of the first word are both the same letter. And knowing that, we could go from there to figure out what letter it could be. That symbol has to stand for a letter that is commonly used doubly, or one right after the other. Some examples would be e, o, l, or t, just to name a few."

Ino blinked. "So...could you do this on your own?"

"Um...I guess s..."

"What's this about a ninja working for Sasuke?" came a frantic voice from the doorway. Tsunade hurried into the room, looking from the nearly-naked dead body, to Shikamaru and Ino, who were still sitting on the floor. "What are you two doing? And I thought you went home, Shikamaru."

"Long story," Shikamaru said, standing up and handing the paper to Tsunade. The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"What's this?"

"It's a coded message. We found it on the ninja's body. I think with some time, I can crack it."

"All right, well...you do that. Let me know as soon as you figure out what it means. Ino, go tell Sakura and Naruto about everything you've discovered. Okay?"

Both Ino and Shikamru nodded, hurrying from the room.

Once they were gone, Tsunade shouted, "Shizune!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, hurrying up to her.

"Where's my sake?"

* * *


	5. Unexpected Visitors

Shikamaru acknowledged Ino with a small nod as she opened the front door to his home, stepping inside and closing the door softly behind her. "Still working?" Ino asked, noticing the small note in Shikamaru's hand and a larger paper with scribbled writing on it sitting in front of him.

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied dully, setting the note down after a moment and scratching his head as Ino sat down beside him on his couch. "Did you tell them yet?"

"Nah," Ino replied, crossing her arms behind her head and leaning back to stare up at the ceiling. "I figured I'd wait until you figured out the message, that way I could just deliver all the information in one visit."

"But I don't know how long this is going to take. And we both had direct orders from the Hokage herself. I'm following mine, so you should follow yours."

Ino sighed, scooting closer to him and leaning over to stare at the coded message in front of them. "All business, today, huh?" Shikamaru didn't reply, so Ino leaned forward and picked up the note, setting it on her lap where they both could see it. "I'll help, then. What have you figured out so far?"

"Well..." Shikamaru showed her the paper he had been scribbling on, pointing to various parts of it as he explained them. "I've already told you about the two symbols next to each other, and how those could be letters like l, o, e, and so on. But when I look at the whole message, I've got to think about what kind of orders Sasuke would give someone he'd send to the village. So if you look at this second word..." Shikamaru pointed to the six-symboled word on the paper in Ino's lap. "It has six letters. Taking both that into consideration and the fact that these are orders from Sasuke...I've got to figure that this is a name. And the first word must be something that Sasuke wants done to this person. At first, I tried the obvious name: Sakura. That leaves a whole range of things that could go where the first word is, especially since it is only four letters long. Take Sakura, grab Sakura, even save Sakura, since that's what Sasuke would view what he's doing as. Only the first word can't be any of the ones I just mentioned, since none of them have the same third and fourth letter."

"But if the second word is Sakura, then the possibilities are pretty much endless," Ino said hopelessly.

"That's right. Which is why I figured: 'What if the second word isn't Sakura?' Then, I noticed this..." Shikamaru pointed to the second symbol in the word, and then the last symbol. "Each symbol stands for one letter, and one letter only. So if this were to stand for the A in Sakura..." He pointed to the second symbol. "Then this one would have to also stand for A." He pointed to the last symbol.

"But those are two different symbols..."

"Exactly! Which means, the second letter and the last letter in that six-letter word have to be two different letters, which means they both can't be A, and that word can't be Sakura." Shikamaru looked at her proudly. "And that's what you do to solve codes like these."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "And that's where we're at right now?"

Shikamaru deflated. "Eh...yeah. That's all I've got."

"Then what should we do next?"

Shikamaru stared down at the code again, scratching his head in thought. "Uh...well, we could always work on the first word now, since it's easier and shorter."

"Okay. This is the one with two of the same symbol right next to each other, right?"

"Yeah. And if I'm right about the second word being a name, then the first one's probably a verb."

"Okay...Hey," Ino said suddenly, looking up at Shikamaru with disbelief.

"What?" Shikamaru asked with slight irritation in his tone. "Don't tell me you've actually caught something that I missed."

"Oh, shut up," Ino replied, hitting his arm lightly. "I was just thinking...you said Sakura was the obvious choice for a name, but it didn't fit. So... what about Naruto?"

* * *

"Weird, huh?" Naruto whispered sideways, pulling Sakura closer to him, and wrapping one arm around her protectively as they walked through the village, Sakura's bag of Cinnamon Cakes now in her hand.

"I shouldn't have gone with you," Sakura stated meekly, smiling nervously at the various villagers they passed by. "People are staring."

Naruto leaned over slightly. "The next time I see Lee, he's dead," he growled in her ear, kissing her temple quickly before he returned to his original height. "You shouldn't have told him."

"Technically, I didn't. He overheard..."

"That doesn't mean he had to go prancing around, yelling about the 'youth' inside your belly," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "Now what is everyone going to think?"

"I'm sure it doesn't matter. So I have a bad reputation now, it's not like I'll care...that much. Besides, Tsunade-sama doesn't mind and you don't mind and that's all that matters to me."

"Mhmm..." Naruto replied absentmindedly, his head snapping to his left as his eyes focused on an old lady that was making her staring a bit too obvious. "What the hell are you looking at, you old broad? Never seen a pregnant girl before?"

The old lady's lip started to quiver. Sakura's eyes widened, and she yanked Naruto forward quickly and they both hurried down the street and away from the gaping villagers. "Idiot," Sakura hissed, tightening her grip on Naruto's wrist. He winced. "You're lucky we're almost to my house."

"Uh...I just thought of something," Naruto replied weakly, staring down at Sakura's hand as he tried to free his wrist. "When you're having the baby, you're going to be holding my hand...well, squeezing it actually...as hard as you can..." His face went slightly green.

"I'll heal it afterwards," Sakura suggested, reaching for the keys in her pocket as they reached her front door. She let herself and Naruto inside and closed the door behind them, letting out a loud sigh and sitting down on the living room couch, pulling Naruto down next to her.

"Sakura, do you think we should move in together?" Naruto asked suddenly, putting a hand on her arm and rubbing it lightly as Sakura leaned over and placed her head in his lap.

"Yes," Sakura replied honestly, closing her eyes and placing her hand over his.

"So should I move into your house or should you move into mine?"

"I guess it doesn't matter..." Sakura replied quietly. Naruto looked down, noticing her eyes were closed.

"Are you tired?"

When Sakura didn't answer, Naruto smiled to himself, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head, letting his eyes slide shut.

"HEY! YOU TWO IN THERE?!"

Naruto's eyes cracked open and he muttered a curse as Sakura shot up next to him, rubbing her eyes and groaning something intelligible.

"I'll get it," Naruto muttered, standing up and brushing past Sakura to reach the front door. He practically threw it open to see Ino and Shikamaru standing side by side, identical grins on their faces and a small piece of paper in their hands.

"We cracked the code!"

Naruto promptly shut the door in their faces, mumbling something about Shikamaru and his damn newspaper crossword puzzles before he sat back down next to Sakura, wrapping his arms around her and letting her rest her head against his chest.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked, her tone mirroring how tired she was.

"Only for a minute," Naruto replied, kissing the top of her head and then resting his chin there. "You're beautiful when you sleep."

"You know you don't have to be all cheesy like that with me," Sakura told him with a laugh, turning herself around so that she was facing him. He grinned back at her.

"I know, but I like doing it anyway." He closed the distance between them, Sakura kissing him back softly as he felt her tongue run across his lips invitingly.

"Hey, you guys, this is important, let us in! And quit making out, we can hear you!"

Naruto sighed, pulling away from Sakura long enough to shout a quick, "Go away!" before he returned to kissing her again. They broke apart again after another moment, this time so that Naruto could move his lips to her neck. "I love you," he murmured against her skin, chuckling as another loud knock came from their front door. He felt Sakura's fingers brush against his lower stomach and realized her fingers were on his shirt, so he raised his arms up above his head, letting her pull it up. A small clicking sound came from the front door, and Sakura's fingers froze as Naruto's shirt was covering his face so he couldn't see, and his hands were inching towards the bottom of her shirt.

"Shit!"

"Huh, what?" Naruto asked curiously, feeling Sakura's fingers release his shirt and her weight leave the couch. "Sakura...I can't see!" He jerked around for moment, trying to get his shirt back on, falling off the couch in the process and ending up on his back, still unable to see.

"Told you to open up," came Shikamaru's voice, this time closer to where it had been before.

"You left the door unlocked," Ino added. Naruto heard her trying to force back her laughter, and frowned, trying to stand up as a pair of footsteps headed towards him and he felt two soft hands brush the top of his head and grab his shirt, pulling it back down so that he could see. He sighed in relief, rubbing his eyes quickly before he opened them.

"Thanks Sak..." He cut himself off when he saw it was Ino standing in front of him, with an eyebrow raised and her arms now crossed. Sakura was standing a few feet behind her, grinned at the expression on Naruto's face.

"Brought you this," Ino told him bluntly, pressing a piece of paper into his hand and walking back over to stand by Shikamaru.

"That wasn't funny," Naruto heard Shikamaru whisper to Ino grouchily. "Helping him put his shirt back on..." he grumbled something else that Naruto didn't hear and crossed his arms, averting his gaze to the front door.

"...the hell's this?" Naruto asked, looking down at the piece of paper. "And what's up with all the symbols, and why the hell does it say 'Kill Naruto' on here?"

"We were just about to explain that," Ino replied easily.


	6. The Invasion

**A/N: Well, I finally got around to updating this story. Sorry for those of you that had to wait for such a long time, but I guess I just got a little bored of it because I ran out of ideas. I needed to switch things up a bit this chapter and make it more interesting so that I would want to update it more, which is why this chapter is pretty fast-paced and a lot happens at once. But hopefully the sudden change in the plot will make me want to write more chapters sooner, so hopefully you guys should see another chapter in less than a week now. Enjoy this one in the mean time! :)**

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade dropped her bottle of sake in surprise, and it crashed to the floor and shattered into tiny little pieces, the liquid spreading across the floor.

The door to Tsunade's office burst open and Sakura and Naruto ran inside, panic-stricken looks on their faces. "Look at this!"

Sakura shoved a tiny piece of paper into Tsunade's hands, and Tsunade squinted down at it. "Is this the message Shikamaru was supposed to decode?"

"Yes!"

Tsunade blinked down at the paper. "Alright. I'll go find Shizune and tell her our village needs to be put on Code Red security level. If Sasuke's coming after you, he's bound to be planning a huge attack."

"What should we do, then?" Sakura asked her. "If there's an attack, Naruto shouldn't fight! And I'm pregnant! I can't fight either, the baby might get hurt."

"Like hell I won't fight. I'm killing Sasuke myself," Naruto argued.

"If Sakura doesn't want you to fight, you won't fight," Tsunade told him. "And that's an order from your Hokage. One less man isn't going to make much of a difference in an all-out war."

"But..."

All three ninja turned to look at the source of the footsteps racing down the hall towards them. Shizune slid to a stop next to them, Tonton squealing wildly in her arms. "Tsunade-sama..."

"Shizune, good, you're here. I need you to tell the other shinobi to up the village security, we've got a Code Red. If they're going to target a ninja of Konoha, then they'll have to go through one-hundred others first."

"Well, it looks like they're going to try it!" Shizune said shrilly. "We're under attack!"

"WHAT?!"

Tsunade spun around, staring out her window, where she could see the beginnings of a fight starting near the village wall. "Shizune. Tell all the villagers to stay inside and close their curtains so that they can't be seen. And send every ninja we have to that wall."

"Even the Genin?"

Tsunade paused, grinding her teeth together as she thought. "If they want to go, let them. For every other ninja, it's required to fight."

Shizune nodded, leaving the room quickly as Tsunade focused her attention on Naruto and Sakura, who were both looking past Tsunade through her window.

"Naruto. Take Sakura somewhere safe, and fight only if you are in danger. I don't want you dashing into the fight and getting yourself killed. Understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-baa-chan," Naruto said quietly.

"Then hurry up!"

Sakura nodded, pulling Naruto from the room without another word.

Now alone, Tsunade grit her teeth, forming a few hand-signs and preparing to poof to the fight. "Nobody messes with Konoha. Not while I'm Hokage."

* * *

"Where should we go?" Sakura asked him loudly. She was barely heard over the clang of kunai and screams of dying men fighting just down the street.

"Somewhere deserted. What's the one place in the village nobody bothers to go?"

"I think I know."

Sakura grabbed his hand, leading Naruto down the street as he looked over his shoulder at the fighting. The noises behind them began to fade as they headed away from the fight, and eventually everyone looked like tiny black dots.

It was at this moment that Sakura felt a tug on her arm, and she was pulled back towards Naruto, who turned her towards the fight and pulled her body against his. They stood together silently, staring at one lone black dot that could be seen standing on top of the wall, watching the fight below itself.

Naruto's body tensed as he immediately realized who that dot had to be, and he was just about to take a step back towards the fight when he felt Sakura turn herself around and wrap her arms around him in a hug, lying her head against his chest.

Naruto looked down at her with surprise, hugging her back. "Sakura, you shouldn't turn your back to a fight, no matter how far away it is."

"I trust you."

"Well, that certainly is a mistake, isn't it?"

Naruto looked up at the direction of the new voice, and barely had time to spin himself around, positioning Sakura behind him with one arm and drawing a kunai with the other just in time to meet Sasuke's attack head-on.

Their kunai met with a loud clang, and for a moment, they stood in front of each other, faces inches away.

Naruto heard a scream and felt Sakura being pulled out of his reach, and his mind raced as he immediately shoved Sasuke away, taking the Uchiha by surprise and causing him to stumble back a few feet. Naruto spun around to see Shikamaru keeping a firm grip on Sakura, and Ino standing next to him with her eyes locked on Sasuke.

"Shikamaru...I thought you were my friend," Naruto choked out. "But this whole time...you've been working for Sasuke?"

"No, idiot," Shikamaru told him. Behind Naruto, Sasuke had recovered, and was raising his good hand, which still held a kunai.

Shikamaru abruptly shoved Sakura to his right, and she cried out in surprise. Naruto raced to catch her before she fell, changing his direction just as Sasuke threw the kunai. With Naruto out of the way, it raced toward Shikamaru, who deflected it easily, then formed a few hand-signs as a shadow began to spread out in front of him.

"Wha-?" Naruto started, Sakura in his arms.

"Go, baka!" Ino exclaimed to him.

"We'll hold him off," Shikamaru murmured, concentrating on his shadow, which Sasuke was now hurrying to dodge.

Naruto looked from Ino to Shikamaru, then to Sakura, who he was still holding. "Ino, you take Sakura. I'll fight."

"No!" Sakura shouted. "You told Tsunade-sama you wouldn't fight!"

"Didn't you hear me the first time?" Ino said through gritted teeth. "Go!"

Naruto felt Sakura pull on his arm. "Please..."

He was forced to make one of the hardest choices of his life in a matter of seconds, and finally, he sighed. "Thanks, guys..." Sakura relaxed noticably in his grip, and he looked down at her nervously as he lifted her up so she was standing on her feet, spinning her around to face him and pressing his lips to hers softly. Instead of responding, Sakura pulled away immediately, staring up at him anxiously. He stared back, and could see her eyes already beginning to shine, signaling that she was getting ready to cry.

In a second, he was by Ino's side, extending Sakura to the blonde and giving her a pleading look. "I appreciate the gesture, but I have to get rid of him myself. This is the perfect way to keep her safe while I do it."

Ino turned to look at him, and as her eyes met his, he heard her murmer to Shikamaru, "Take care of my body."

Shikamaru nodded, his attention still focused on keeping Sasuke busy.

Naruto barely had a second to register what she had said before he felt himself being shoved out of his own mind. Suddenly, he couldn't feel Sakura in his arms, couldn't feel the ground under his feet, couldn't feel...anything. The words "I'll be back" flowed from his mouth to Shikamaru's ears, but he couldn't remember trying to say them. All he could do was see the world through his own eyes, but someone else was controlling his movements and actions.

_"So this is what it feels like to be under Ino's mind-control technique," _he thought.

"Thank you, Ino," he heard Sakura say, and Naruto grit his teeth, struggling against Ino. If a twelve-year old Sakura could free herself, then so could he.

"Don't even think about it, Naruto," he heard himself say. "I've perfected this technique over the years; there's no escaping from it."

He ignored Ino, trying to escape anyway, but it was obvious to him that what Ino said was the truth. He couldn't free himself.

It had to have been at least ten minutes later when they finally stopped, and Ino finally set Sakura down on the ground at the entrance to the Uchiha's part of the village. The hill where Sasuke's old grave had been was still visible in the distance.

"I hope Shikamaru's okay," Sakura muttered.

"I'm sure he's fine," Ino replied confidently. "Otherwise I'd most likely be dead by now. If anything happens to my body, it happens to me."

They both stood together for a moment, before Sakura wrapped her arms around Ino sadly. "When this is all over and Naruto and I get married, I want you to be my Maid of Honor."

"Okay. But good luck getting Shikamaru to go to another wedding after what happened last time."

Sakura forced a smile, pulling away slowly. "Goodbye, Ino."

"Bye."

Naruto slowly felt himself regaining control of his own body, and after a moment, he wiggled his fingers and moved his arms experimentally. Immediately, Sakura's expression changed to a glare, and she looked up at him angrily.

"What were you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I don't want to lose anyone else. It's going to come down to me and Sasuke. I know it is. And for that to happen, he's going to go through anyone who gets in his way. The less people he has to go through, the better. And how do you think I'm going to look? Konoha's future Hokage spends one of Konoha's biggest wars hiding in an abandoned part of the village with his girlfriend."

"Theres nothing wrong with that," Sakura replied quietly.

"It makes me look weak."

"No, it makes you look like you care about me."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, and he clenched his fists, turning away from Sakura to stare in the direction they had come from. "He'll get to us eventually, and I'll be ready when he does."

* * *

Ino blinked a couple of times, slowly regaining her senses. She could hear footsteps above her every few seconds, and looking to her left, she saw Shikamaru still using his Shadow Possession Jutsu, and Sasuke still trying to dodge it. She stood up quickly, hurrying over to Shikamaru, who quickly wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Did you make it all the way?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, they're in the Uchiha's old settlement," Ino told him. "What can I do to help?"

"Not much right now. I have to trap him first, then you can use your Mind Transfer Jutsu and we'll have him captured. In the mean time, just be prepared to defend yourself, and fight back if you need to."

Ino slid a hand into her weapons pouch, pulling out a kunai and twirling it around her finger, then stopping it by clasping her hand around the handle. "Got it."


	7. The Fight Continues

**A/N: I finally managed to update another chapter, and I wish I could say there'll be another one soon, but I'm not sure whether it'd be true or not. Sorry for the wait, though. **

* * *

"Getting tired?" Sasuke asked with a smirk as he flipped through the air, dodging Shikamaru's shadow once again.

"Nope...you?" Shikamaru grunted in response. Ino flicked a kunai at Sasuke, and he had to contort his body to avoid it as he landed back on the ground, only to jump into the air again a second later.

"No, but I'm getting pretty bored," Sasuke replied.

"Shikamaru, let me attack him while you try to capture him. You're going to run out of chakra soon if we don't hurry," Ino pressed, glancing over at Shikamaru, but making sure she could still see Sasuke out of the corner of her eye.

"I'll get him. Just stay there."

"I'm a ninja too, Shikamaru! I can take care of myself!"

"Now's not the time, Ino..." Shikamaru hissed.

They were both too busy arguing to see Sasuke's Sharingan activate, and Shikamaru froze suddenly as Sasuke landed on the ground ten feet in front of him.

"Wha-"

"I can copy your jutsu, remember?" Sasuke reminded him. "Now you're the one trapped in _my _Shadow Possesion."

Shikamaru's surprised look changed, and he raised an eyebrow. "So? That accomplishes nothing. It's two against one, remember?"

"Oh, I know," Sasuke used his good hand to reach into the pouch at his hip, drawing out a kunai. Shikamaru copied him. "But Ino won't attack me. Whatever she does to me, will happen to you, too."

Ino looked from Sasuke to Shikamaru anxiously, pulling out another kunai after a moment.

"Ino, attack him," Shikamaru ordered.

Ino was taken aback. "What? No way!"

"Do it!"

"He can't do anything to hurt you without hurting himself!" Ino retorted. "So why should I attack him? He'll run out of chakra soon, too."

Sasuke lifted his kunai slightly, and Shikamaru's hand moved too. Slowly, Sasuke moved the kunai directly above the place where his other hand would've been if Sai hadn't cut it off.

"I see," Shikamaru said, his attention back on Sasuke. "If you move your kunai over that empty spot, it won't do anything to _you_, but _I'll _lose a hand. You're hand's already gone, so it won't affect you."

"Exactly."

Shikamaru winced as the cold metal touched his wrist, struggling in vain to free himself. "Ino! Attack him now, or I'll lose a hand!"

Ino looked from Shikamaru to Sasuke wildly, then threw her kunai at Sasuke without thinking. Sasuke was too surprised to move, and the kunai embedded itself in his right shoulder. Both he and Shikamaru cried out, and Sasuke released the jutsu without thinking, then pulled the kunai out of his shoulder, wincing as Ino ran over to Shikamaru, who had sank to his knees.

"I'm fine," he muttered to her, brushing her off. "We can't let him get away."

"You're bleeding," she told him, watching blood run out of the cut in his shoulder. "There's no way you can fight now, you're losing blood fast."

He was standing up slowly now, his arms dangling at his sides as he gripped the kunai still in his hand. Sasuke was still nursing his own wound, but seemed to be recovering fast despite the amount of blood he'd lost.

"Shadow Possesion Jutsu," he forced out, his breath already coming out in gasps. A small shadow began to spread out from his feet, surrounding Sasuke's own feet before the Uchiha realized what had happened. "You should never get distracted in a battle," Shikamaru told him, coughing suddenly. Blood flew from his mouth, staining the ground in front of him.

"You're right," Sasuke admitted, watching him carefully.

Ino's hands began to glow next to Shikamaru, and he turned towards her sharplly. "Don't heal me," he ordered. "It'll heal him too."

"Shikamaru, you're dying!" Ino shouted, tears welling up in her eyes now.

He coughed again. "I know. Sacrifices have to be made sometimes. Don't feel guilty about throwing that kunai, either, because I know you will later on. It's what I told you to do." He lifted the hand with the kunai in it, and Sasuke did the same across from him. Slowly, Shikamaru turned the kunai towards himself.

He grunted suddenly when Ino tackled him the ground, and Sasuke was forced to the ground too as Ino straddled Shikamaru's waist, wrestling him for the kunai in his hand. "Ino...let go! I have to do this!"

She shook her head quickly, only tightening her grip on his wrist. "I won't let you," she whispered.

"We talked about this when we were on our way to head Sasuke off. His death is more important to the village than my life."

"Your life is important to me!" she exclaimed, tearing the kunai from his hand as he grew even weaker from blood loss.

"Ino...give it back...I won't be able to hold the jutsu for much longer," he panted, watching her eyebrows furrow in concentration as she began to heal his wound. "Stop..." he said, but he could feel his strength coming back to him quickly, and he deactivated the jutsu, knowing Sasuke was being healed, too. He rolled himself and Ino over so that he was on top of her, stopping his protests and letting her heal him as he watched Sasuke catch his breath, and then stand up, looking over at him.

"She hasn't gotten much smarter, has she?" Sasuke asked, beginning to walk towards them.

* * *

Naruto stood in the entrance to one of the abandoned Uchiha houses, looking down the road and wondering how Shikamaru and Ino were doing. He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Come sit down."

He turned around at the sound of Sakura's voice, to see her sitting inside the house with her back against one of the walls. She patted the ground next to her.

"I can't. I have to keep watch."

She scooted over slightly to a spot where the open doorway would be visible from where she was sitting, then patted the spot beside her again. He sighed, then walked toward her, letting her pull him down to the ground beside her. He leaned against the wall, exhaling loudly and staring at the doorway. His fingers tingled when Sakura slipped her hand into his, and he felt her breath against his cheek, so he turned his head to look at her, which only result in their lips meeting instead of a kiss on the cheek.

Sakura's hand left his and both of her hands planted themselves in his hair, running through it carefully, and Naruto gripped her hips, pulling her closer as she deepened the kiss. Their tongues met and danced, and Naruto broke the kiss suddenly, keeping his eyes closed as he felt Sakura's breath on his face again. "We can't do this right now," he told her, finally opening his eyes to stare into hers.

"I know," she murmured, but she pulled him forward anyway and kissed him again, and Naruto felt the room quickly heating up as her fingers slid under his shirt, tracing the muscles of his chest shakily. "But I can't help it."

His shirt was off a second later, and his mind was racing too fast for him to be able to keep up with what she was doing. He threw his head back and moaned when she left a trail of heated kisses down his neck, then shuddered once her lips reached his chest. She'd only ever acted like this with him once before, and, well...he knew full-well what that had led to. "Sakura-chan..." he managed to choke out. "Sasuke could be coming for us right this second..."

She paused, looking up at him anxiously. "The last time he was here, I was taken and I couldn't do a thing about it. If the same thing happens again, this might be the last time I'll ever see you."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," he promised.

"You couldn't make sure last time," she replied, and although she hadn't meant it harshly, it still stung, because he knew it was true. "I don't know what's going to happen. Ino and Shikamaru could be dead right now, or Sasuke could even be dead. But if he isn't, and we still have time while they're fighting him, I want what could possibly be my last memory of you to be something other than watching you stare down a road, waiting for him to show up. I want it to be of the two of us together."

She kissed him again, and Naruto lost track of time as her hands continued to explore his torso, but he forced himself to break the kiss again as her hands slid towards his pants. "He wants me dead, too," he told her. "I can't..." He blushed suddenly, embarassed. "What if...I mean, I wouldn't exactly be in the best position to defend myself...and I'd rather not be caught doing _that _in the first place."

She bit her lip, then sighed, reaching for his shirt and handing it to him. "You're right," she admitted as he put it back on. "We can't put ourselves in danger by letting our guard down so heavily."

"Hey," he said, noticing how disappointed she looked. "Having sex isn't the only way to make a good memory. What about..." He pulled her onto his lap carefully, then wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean back against him as his hand slid under her shirt. "...this?" He began to rub her stomach lightly, and heard her sigh and relax against him. "This isn't so bad, right?" he asked, hoping his attempt at cheering her up was working. She turned towards him slightly so that they could see each other, then smiled, pecking him on the lips.

"It's perfect," she told him, then turned around fully in his lap so that they were facing each other, taking hold of the wrist of the hand rubbing her stomach. She held his hand until it was still, smiled at him again, and moved his hand to the center of her stomach, kissing him again while she kept his hand still. "Your baby's in there," she said, pulling away as his eyes focused on his hand.

"How could I ever forget?" he replied.


End file.
